thank you Darren.. :)

i don't see the negative side of sex at all! :) Sex is an action, that's all. It is neither positive nor negative. However, i believe that it is our animalistic attitude towards sex - the craving for its transient physical pleasure which is our downfall. Wanting pleasure is part of the 8 worldly concerns, which we, as Buddhists, are taught to abandon.

Dear Curious, Thank you for writing so extensively in your comment. With regard to the existence of God, this question is not addressed in Buddhism, which has led Buddhists to believe that it is not important whether God exists or not. According to Buddhism, karma is the universal law by which everything in samsara (the 6 realms of existence) abides. There is no celestial being judging our every move... but every move has a cause and an effect, which is governed by karma. Karma does not judge, it merely is a law that explains how certain actions lead to certain consequences. Buddha figured out how it worked and taught us, so that we stop falling into the same hole. As for infinite lives - Buddha taught us the four noble truths (http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/fourtruths.html), which encompass all of Buddha's teachings: 1. Life means suffering. 2. The origin of suffering is attachment. 3. The cessation of suffering is attainable. 4. The path to the cessation of suffering. Because Buddha became enlightened, he shows us the way - the path - to achieve the very state he has achieved. Contrary to nobody achieving nirvana, there are many highly attained monks who have achieved a state of enlightenment and this can be seen by their qualities and their works. Buddha said that there are 84,000 ways to achieve enlightenment. These methods vary greatly but one is not necessarily better than the other. Do you follow any religion?

Many people have a misconception of sex in tantric practice. If there is at all any interest in sexual physical pleasure in the pursuit of tantra, the motivation is already wrong.

Hi Daniel Sean is chanting "OM AH HUNG" and i have added the explanation above to the blog post. Thanks for your feedback which makes the information more comprehensive :)

Dear Daniel, I am not sure if it is available anywhere on the net but you can get this information from the following book: The Living Buddha Within http://vajrasecrets.com/books/english-books/book-living-buddha-within.html or more comprehensively from the Tsongkhapa boxset: http://vajrasecrets.com/books/box-sets/tsongkhapa-boxset-english.html If you have 7 cups, it represents: 1. water for drinking (traditionally, when inviting a VIP guest, you offer a drink) 2. water for washing the feet (traditionally in india, it is very dusty, so you offer to wash the visitor's feet) The other 5 offerings are the offerings of the 5 aggregates, which are the cause of all our sufferings - basically, when we see ugly things, smell nasty smells, touch icky stuff, taste lousy food, hear awful sounds, we get unhappy.. so we offer up our attachment to our 5 senses to the Buddhas when we make our water offerings. 3. flower (sight) 4. incense (smell) 5. perfume (touch) 6. food (taste) 7. conch shell (sound) That is the short explanation. Hope it helps :)